The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk held a working meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani.
The main issues of the meeting were strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities, strengthening sanctions pressure against the russian federation and support for the “Formula for Peace” of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
“The task of all democratic forces is to do everything to ensure that this war ends with the defeat of the aggressor and the victory of the entire civilian world,” the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine stressed. He added that a high level of dialogue continues between Ukraine and North Macedonia, including at the parliamentary level.
He reminded that a striking example of inter-parliamentary cooperation is the First Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform held on October 25 last year, which brought together the largest number of speakers who gathered to discuss the issues of Crimea and territorial integrity.
“You are in Ukraine at a very difficult time for us. Two days ago russia carried out another horrific terrorist attack against a peaceful house in Dnipro. This behaviour of the russian federation should put an end to any silence about what russia is doing in Ukraine,” Ruslan Stefanchuk said, stressing that it is necessary to foster zero tolerance to the war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine.
“Therefore, a very important issue that should unite us all now is the continuation of military and financial support for Ukraine, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine demonstrate to the whole world the heroism of resistance to the russian army,” he said.
In addition, Ruslan Stefanchuk expressed gratitude to North Macedonia for supporting the sanctions pressure against Russia: “This pressure must continue. We need the toughest sanctions. And it should be such a system of sanctions that will not allow to circumvent them”.
“It is very important that the “Formula for Peace” of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi will be considered and supported at the level of our countries, inter-parliamentary and international organizations,” Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.
At the same time, the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine invited North Macedonia to cooperate on the restoration of Ukraine: “After our joint victory, the issue of restoring Ukraine should become a success story for the whole world”.
“Two days ago russia committed a terrible inhuman crime against Ukraine, against civilians. Such crimes must be condemned in every possible way – and I will do it not only as a member of our national Government, but also as the new OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia and current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Bujar Osmani. He added that Ukraine was at the top of the agenda of the organization: “I have come to express personal solidarity and solidarity of my people and the organization with the Ukrainian people, who have been suffering such heavy losses and damages for 11 months”.